Congress Leader Gurudas Kamat Dies After Heart Attack
NEW DELHI : Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat died at a private hospital in New Delhi following a heart attack on Wednesday morning. Kamat, who is survived by his wife Maharookh and son Sunil, was 63.
According to a family friend, Kamat complained of severe chest pain while having his morning tea. He called out to his driver, who rushed him to the Primus Hospital in Chanakyapuri, where he is said to have succumbed within minutes.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi visited the hospital and paid her last respects to the leader. Her son and party chief Rahul Gandhi condoled the leader’s death, calling it a “massive blow to the Congress family.” Mr Gandhi is not in the country and he tweeted his condolences from Germany.
Kamat was a Member of Parliament in 1984, 1991, 1998 and 2004. from Mumbai. He was Union Minister of State for Home Affairs with an additional charge of the Communications and Information Technology ministry from 2009 to 2011. In July 2011, he resigned as the minister.He was also a former president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee.
On Tuesday night, Kamat had tweeted Bakri Eid greetings to all saying: “Eid Mubarak to all my friends celebrating Eid-Al-Adha. May all your prayers be accepted. May peace, joy and happiness never depart from your lives and homes.”
An advocate by profession, Kamat was a Commerce graduate from the RA Podar College in Mumbai and also had a law degree from the Government Law College in Mumbai.
Condoling Kamat’s demise, Congress general secretary and former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot termed it an “irreparable loss” for the party. “Shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the sudden demise of Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat ji. H May his soul Rest in peace (sic),” Gehlot tweeted.
BJP MP Poonam Mahajan also tweeted to condole Kamat’s death.
“Sad to hear about demise of Sri Gurudas Kamat ji. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace,”
Former President Pranab Mukherjee tweeted his condolences as well. “Shocked and pained at the sudden and untimely demise of Shri Gurudas Kamat. A colleague in the government and the party for many years, his passing away at such young age is tragic,” he tweeted. (With Agency Inputs ).
